Creator of high end gaming accessories, Razer Inc., has announced its acquisition of THX Ltd., the audio giant that George Lucas built. Razer will be welcoming the management and employees of THX, which is a pretty darn nice of then, as they further their grasp on the gaming audio and accessory market.
“Razer has a vision for innovation at every level of entertainment, a vision which THX has championed since its inception more than 30 years ago,” said Razer Co-founder and CEO, Min-Liang Tan, in an October 17th press release. “This acquisition will allow us to reinforce Razer’s leadership in gaming and extend the brand into broader areas of entertainment, while at the same time empowering THX to develop into a global powerhouse, independently.”
Despite all of the corporate non-speak there, that last bit is pretty important. Razer intends to run THX as an independent start-up. It will retain management and employees and be allowed to pursue its own business relationships and partnerships. Essentially, THX gets a new Mommy in the form of Razer, but they believe in a hands off method of parenting. This probably comes from the fact that THX has been in its business for about two decades longer than Razer has existed.
“For over 30 years, THX has maintained a proud legacy of being one of the leaders in audio technology and certification worldwide,” said Laurie Fincham, Sr. Vice President of Audio Research and Development at THX. “With their focus on quality, design and innovation Razer supports our vision to optimize and deliver the best audiovisual experiences to audiences worldwide.”
As much as I dislike the increased power of our corporate overlords, it’s hard to see this as anything but a good thing. It’s a success story for Razer, being able to surpass and acquire a company that has been in the business for so long and has such an illustrious background, and THX gets to do what it does best in a massive new market without the new boss breathing down its neck. No matter how you slice it, this partnership just sounds like a winner.
